IRELAND appear to be a home banker at 1/50 (Bet365) for their first meeting with Gibraltar in Dublin. But can we find a value bet elsewhere? Mark O’Haire (@MarkOHaire) investigates…

Republic Of Ireland v Gibraltar | 17.00 | Sky Sports 3

Martin O’Neill’s men dodged a bullet in Georgia. A vital 2-1 victory was secured last month, which may prove pivotal to Ireland’s chances of securing a place in France for two years time. It’s not an exaggeration to suggest that failure to win in Tbilisi could well have ended the Boys In Green’s hopes of qualification.

In such a competitive group, the smallest margins are bound to come into play in the following 12 months and that means a comprehensive win at home to Gibraltar must be achieved before O’Neill and Keane take their team to Germany on Tuesday evening.

But Ireland don’t hold a particularly impressive record against the smaller nations. Tracing back across their last 100 competitive games, the Green Army have scored five or more goals on only one occasion – when San Marino visited in 2006.

With that in mind and value almost impossible to come by in such a one-sided encounter, having a small play on Under 4.5 Goals at 6/4 with Paddy Power could be the way forward. Poland destroyed the principality 7-0 but six of their goals came after the interval as their opponents tired; taking that into account the 5/6 (Bet365) on the second-half being the Highest Scoring Half could also have legs.

About Author

After starting his career in newspaper journalism, Mark soon found his way into the online betting world, forging a career in content, social media and marketing production. With a huge passion for stats, the Football League and European football, Mark’s other interests include playing rugby, following his beloved QPR and travel.